Chapter 29: Fighting

  Tang An fondled the blue-green glass-like short sword in his hand, reluctant to let it go.

  This short sword feels no different from an ordinary iron sword, but visually, it is really too gorgeous. As soon as it comes out, it shines brightly and looks great. Moreover, this sword in Tang An's hand makes Tang An feel a sense of connection with his heart. It seems that this sword was originally grown on his body.

  Tang An's mind stirred, and the short sword began to flash and flutter in the courtyard.

  In the courtyard, there were many trees. If it were in the past, Tang An would have used his divine sense to move straight forward, but at this moment, the sword was really like a living thing, swimming back and forth in the courtyard like a fish, without touching even a single tree.

  "Divine instrument, it's truly ingenious. When used, it's as if it were an extension of one's own arm."

  With this spiritual tool, my swordsmanship will surely be elevated once more.

  Now, my killing sword has reached a bottleneck, and it's almost impossible to merge the nine great circles. Last time, if Wang Ruitu hadn't suddenly turned into a demon, his demonic energy wouldn't have stimulated the sword intent of the killing sword, allowing me to activate the hidden techniques within the killing sword, I'm afraid it wouldn't be that easy to defeat him.

  "If I'm right, the eighth sword will slaughter demons, and the ninth sword must slaughter gods. Only by staining itself with the blood of gods and demons can this killing sword become the ultimate killing sword."

  Tang An furrowed his brow as he thought about this. The killing sword's power was great, but the possibility of advancing to the Divine Path was just too small. Although there were few people on the demonic path in this world, they weren't hard to find either. But as for those on the Divine Path, where could one even begin to look? As Tang An thought about this, he lost interest in playing with his spiritual artifact and retracted it into his body.

  The path of martial arts is not something that can be understood overnight. After ten years of hard training, I was able to enter the realm of heaven this month and comprehend the killing sword.

  All this is the result of gradual accumulation and sudden release, as dictated by the trend of events.

  "If I hadn't spent the last decade cultivating, even if I were a natural-born genius, it would be impossible for me to enter the realm of heaven in such a short period. Now that my accumulation is insufficient, I naturally can't understand the later realms. It seems that this path to becoming a master is not a solitary one. A master not only needs to cultivate diligently but also needs to engage with others, mutually verifying each other. Only during this process, constantly challenging oneself and challenging masters, can this road become wider and wider."

  Tang An was contemplating the principles of martial arts while strolling casually within the mansion.

  He passed by a courtyard, and suddenly a "hummph" sound of exercise came. He turned his head to look, and saw that in the big yard next door, eight hundred soldiers under his command were competing with each other. These eight sturdy men, each with an invincible physique, piercing eyes, and all first-class warriors

  Eight hundred men temporarily lived in the Tang Mansion, while the rest of the soldiers camped outside the city walls of Zhongzhou. The eight hundred tigers and leopards came to Zhongzhou this time, not just to accompany Tang An back home. They also had other missions.

  These tasks were specifically ordered by His Majesty the Emperor, set for the Yangzhou plan, but it's not good to tell Tang An. Tang An doesn't care either, among these eight hundred Tiger and Leopard Troops, there is also a part that is not the direct lineage of the Tiger and Leopard Camp, but indeed the private guard sent by His Majesty the Emperor to him. These people will be the true direct lineage of the Tang family in the future.

  After all, Tang An also knew that the abilities and influence of the aristocratic families in this world were extremely powerful. The establishment of an aristocratic family required not only a very strong leader as the backbone but also those minor characters to complement it. Only then could they flourish and prosper forever.

  Tang An used to be able to ignore those trivial matters, but now he can't. He is destined not to stay at home for a long time. The world is vast and the path of a master is far-reaching. His character has determined that once he sets foot on this path, he will definitely not want to stop halfway and start enjoying the fruits of success. So, he needs to consider his family and build a good environment for them. Even if one day he gets into trouble, at least his family will have the ability to resist.

  Tang An thought of this and wanted to take a look at the abilities of those eight centurions. Who knows, he might make some unexpected discoveries.

  However, those eight centurions were clearly not enough in Tang An's eyes. In less than a month in the capital of Yanjing, he had almost seen all the top masters under the sky, except for a few reclusive masters, and now there were hardly many people who could withstand his one sword. His vision thus became extremely high. The competition between these centurions was indeed uninteresting to him.

  Just then, Tang An heard a crisp jingling sound. He didn't need to turn his head to know that Xiao Xie had arrived. Xiao Xie wore a string of silver bells on her ankle, and every time she moved, they rang out loudly, creating a lively atmosphere.

  Xiao Ye is a person who likes lively things and also likes to bring joy to others. Wherever she appears, there must be laughter. Xiao Ye was originally playing on the swing in the yard, but after swinging for a while, she suddenly felt bored and wanted to go out and play. However, going out alone was really too boring, so she thought of finding someone to accompany her. As soon as she left the yard, she saw Tang An standing here, and a smile immediately appeared on her face.

  "Little Tang An, this is your hometown. You must know where to eat the best food, right?" Xiao Xie said with a smile, pulling out a small handful of gold leaves from her bosom and patting her chest towards Tang An: "Hehe... With so much money, we can eat for a long time. If you call me sister, I'll treat you."

  Tang An couldn't help but smile wryly, and Xiao Xie took it as a sign of agreement. He stepped forward and pulled Tang An out with him.

  …………

  "Xiao Xie, why did you bring me here?"

  Tang An looked around, this was already the outskirts of Zhongzhou City. At this moment, it was midsummer, and for hundreds of miles outside the city, there were dense forests, with grass as sharp as swords and weeds covering the ground.

  Xiao Xie smiled slyly and took out a small, emerald-green bead from her sleeve. This small bead was the same magical object that had saved Tang An's life on that day.

  Tang An curiously stared at the small bead and asked: "Xiao Xie, is this your spiritual tool? Was it given to you by your master?"

  Xiao Xie didn't respond to Tang An's words, but instead smiled and looked up at the thicket. Tang An didn't know what Xiao Xie was looking at, so he also slowly lifted his head and stared intently at the thicket.

  At this moment, the aura on Xiao Xie's body suddenly changed. The birds in the thicket also felt this aura and were startled, flying out with a loud chirping sound. Seeing the birds fly out, the small bead in Xiao Xie's hand began to shine brightly.

  Xiao Xie shouted "yah yah" and waved her hand, causing small beads to fall down and hit several birds. Then she happily picked up the birds and threw them at Tang An, saying: "Little Tang An, do you know how to roast?" Seeing Tang An's puzzled expression, Xiao Xie pouted: "You don't? You're so stupid." With that, she started doing it herself.

  Before long, a fragrance wafted out in all directions.

  Xiao Xie took a bite of the meat skewers and suddenly exclaimed with joy: "It's so delicious! I haven't had it for a long time, it's really nostalgic. Xiao Tang An, do you want some? As long as you call me sister, I'll give you some to eat. Go ahead and call me, there's no one around, no one will laugh at you. It's really very tasty."

  Tang An's face was brilliant at this moment. Could it be that this little girl had brought herself here just to make herself call her sister, without letting others know?

  He looked at Xiao Xie's innocent and harmless appearance, and thought of what Mu Hongyu said, that she would never grow up.

  Many people don't want to grow up because when they grow up, the world in their eyes starts to become dirty and is no longer as pure as it was when they were young.

  But will never grow up, is it really a good thing?

  Maybe so.

  At least, Xiao Xie is always smiling. Tang An has never seen anyone happier than her in this world.

  Xiao Xie waited for a long time, but didn't get any response from Tang An. She suddenly sighed and said: "Okay, if you don't call me sister, then there's no delicious food for you." As she spoke, she stuffed the last string into her mouth, leaving Tang An crying with laughter.

  But after a while, Xiao Xie suddenly took out a string of roasted chestnuts from behind her back and handed them to Tang An. She stuck out her pink tongue and giggled: "Gotcha! How's that? Am I generous enough? Eat up quickly, you'll feel terrible if your stomach is empty."

  Tang An couldn't help but burst out laughing at this point. This was truly an angel-like child. Perhaps she would never grow up, and that would be the best blessing from heaven for her. Thinking of this, Tang An's hand beckoned, and a cyan-colored crystal-like sword appeared in his hand, which was exactly his spiritual artifact.

  He smiled and began to dance with his sword, swinging it naturally and freely like the wind, compared to before, it was several times faster.

  Tang An shook his head, the few sword moves just now, he always felt strange. This sword move was still a killing sword move, but why, in this sword momentum, there was no longer any murderous intent. A sword without murderous intent, no matter how fast, could it kill people?

  Cannot

  Xiao Xie saw Tang An finish dancing, and suddenly clapped her hands, with big eyes full of joy, saying: "Little Tang An, were you dancing for me? It looks really good, Xiao Xie loves it..." But as soon as she said this, Xiao Xie suddenly became worried: "But when you grow up, will you also be like Master and not play with Xiao Xie anymore, always thinking about closing the door to cultivate?"

  Tang An smiled, but didn't respond to Xiao Xie's words. Because he also didn't know what the future held. He changed the subject and said: "Xiao Xie, we have a lot of money now. Tomorrow, I'll send someone to buy you a few maids to keep you company, how about that?"

  Xiao Xie raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment before saying, "Can't you play with me?"

  Tang An's smile had already disappeared from his face, and his gaze slowly looked into the distance: "Tomorrow, I will go to Yangzhou."

  Xiao Xie's face fell upon hearing this, and her pink embroidered shoes began to kick at the stones on the ground. She muttered: "You're going to fight again? Master said that Xiao Xie can't fight. Fighting is learning bad things. Later, Master won't like Xiao Xie anymore. Xiao Tang An, why do you want to go fight? Fighting is wrong."

  Tang An reached out and patted Xiao Xie's head, saying, "When you grow up, you'll understand. It's not that I want to fight, but there are some people, I have no choice but to fight. Only when I've scared everyone off can we live happily like this."

  When she heard the word "grow up", Xiao Xie pouted again, then turned her head around and made a fierce expression. She took a sneak peek at the surroundings, making sure no one was watching, before whispering: "Anyway, this isn't Tiān Shān, even if I were to get into a fight, Master wouldn't know. Little Tang An, tomorrow, let's go to Yangzhou together! I can help you fight. I'm really fierce, that big black bear on Tiān Shān wasn't even my match!"

  Tang An looked at Xiao Xie's serious and adorable expression, and burst out laughing.

  Xiao Xie didn't lie, she was indeed very powerful. At least, even Tang An couldn't see what realm Xiao Xie was in. To know that Tang An had already reached the peak of the Heavenly Realm, then Xiao Xie's realm wasn't it the Great Heavenly Realm?

  But looking at Xiao Xie's innocent face that day, I'm afraid no one would be willing to associate her with something like murder.

  Tang An was about to refuse, but just then, suddenly, a commotion came from the woods not far away. Tang An's heart moved, and he concentrated his true yuan, becoming vigilant. But Xiao Xie's face lit up with joy.

  "Are we finally going to fight? Little Tang An, don't move next time, let me show you my skills. I'm really fierce."

  It's been slowed down for several chapters now, and the protagonist's current personality should be acceptable to everyone, right?

  The character issue has been resolved, and starting tomorrow, we will officially enter the sixth volume 【Tongtian Map Appraisal】.